Yesterday, our last full day in Sucre, we wanted to try to visit some museums and cathedrals again. First we went to the Museum of Ethnography, which apparently has interesting displays about Bolivia's indigenous culture. Unfortunately it was closed.
Then we went to the Cathedral Museum. In the Cathedral is a painting of the Virgin Mary, painted in 1601. It was subsequently "coated with highlights of gold and silver and adorned in robes encrusted with diamonds, amethysts, pearls, rubies and emeralds donated by wealthy colonial parishioners. The jewels alone are worth millions of dollars, making it the richest Virgin in the Americas." (Lonely Planet). Everyone conveniently forgets that the Spanish colonists got wealthy by enslaving the indigenous people and destroying their culture and religion. Anyway, we never got to see it because the Cathedral and Museum were closed too.
We walked up to the central market. While everywhere else in town was quiet, it was busy. Pretty much everything was for sale, including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
By then we had decided that everything we might want to see was closed for the day. Just for the walk, we went down to the cemetery. It was open, but closed from noon to 2:30. We got there at 12:10 pm.
At least it was a sunny warm day, about 25C. We walked back to our hotel, packed for our return to La Paz and enjoyed the sunshine on the rooftop terrace for a couple of hours. In the evening we returned to the Cosmo restaurant and even had the same meal as last night, the "Plato de Carne para 2 Personas" - the meat plate for 2. It was delicious once again and, with a beer and tip, came to 135 Bolivianos or $27 total. No wonder we rarely go to restaurants at home. Before we returned to the hotel, we walked around the square a few times until we didn't feel quite so full.
This morning we were ready for our last big breakfast at 7:30 am. By 8:30 we were in the lobby waiting for our taxi to take us to the airport. This time getting in the taxi, driven by a young guy, was like stepping into a 70s disco. He had big speakers taking up the whole back window; a rack of CDs on the sun visor; big dice, a crucifix and a picture of his girlfriend hanging from the rear view mirror; blacked out back windows; and fringes hanging here and there. Fortunately he didn't play his favourite tunes for us and he got us to the airport in one piece for 30 Bolivianos ($6).
The Sucre airport is very small. Again, we met the young couple from Vancouver whom we've seen in La Paz and several times in Sucre. They actually live in Langley and own a rental house in Chilliwack, where we've camped a couple of times when our sons were whitewater slalom racing. Our flight took off on schedule and in 50 minutes, we landed in La Paz. It's sunny here as well and about 20C.
We shared a cab with the Vancouver couple so it cost us only 30 Bolivianos to get back downtown to the Sol Andino Hotel from the airport in El Alto. We said goodbye to our new friends and now we're back in our hotel room. We'll probably go for a walk before dinner and make it an early night.
Tomorrow we have to leave our hotel by 7 am to get to the airport. We fly to Cusco, switch airlines and then fly to Lima. The journey home is on.
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